Why Health?

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that responds to people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing medicine, medical supplies and health programs. When people are in crisis, we make sure that health comes first. Our Emergency Programs help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. We provide millions of people around the world Access to Medicine and supplies. Our Clinical Services deliver quality health care for people who have none. We create and support sustainable programs that strengthen Community Health. Learn More

Suggested Tags

Suggested Content

Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Preparing for and Preventing the Next Disease Outbreak

The challenge of Infectious Disease: where does it begin and how does it spread? Infectious Disease outbreaks can arise from different sources (natural or manmade) and spread through several means of transmission involving everything from known carriers such as mosquitoes and ticks, to contaminated water and food supply or simple human contact.

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Instagram

Confronting an Outbreak

Since many infectious diseases can only be treated and not cured, protection, prevention and treatment resources are critical in containing an outbreak. Our emergency response effort often centers on educational programs accompanied by vaccination (if one is available) and other prevention programs. Community knowledge can be the most effective component of prevention.

Conditions for a Disease Disaster

Virus Outbreak: The deadly spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemicinitially in China and then within just weeks globally quickly surpassed the threat from earlier virus outbreaks such as SARS and MERS and now rivals the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The coronavirus is spread like the seasonal cold or flu by human contact (through the air and by touch) or to a lesser degree on common surfaces where the virus can live. The speed of the outbreak is a sobering reminder of how vulnerable the world is in a time of ever increasing globalization of trade and travel. The emergence of a new threat can quickly overwhelm health systems. Good planning and prevention are critical in containing and managing these health crises. And reliable information from trusted sources is the frontline of those efforts. Get the facts on the COVID-19 Pandemic on our response page.

Water and sanitation: Water borne disease might come after a flooding disaster overwhelms local sanitation and contaminates the water supply, infecting those who use the water. In the case of Haiti after the Earthquake, water contaminated by human waste combined with poor sanitation quickly spread and infected thousands of Haitians with a new strain of cholera to which they had no immunity and which a crippled health system had few resources to contain. According to the World Health Organization, there are roughly 3 million cases a year and 90,000 deaths. Patients can lose so much fluid from diarrhea and vomiting that they rapidly become dehydrated and their internal organs shut down; they can die within hours. Cholera is treatable and preventable but it has become a major health threat in places such as Yemen and now Mozambique.

Civil conflict can lead to a cascade of treatable but potentially deadly outbreaks (e.g. Yemen Complex Emergency, beginning with cholera, then typhoid, and then tuberculosis). These threats generally come after the health system, safe water supplies and sanitation are damaged or disrupted. Preparation and response for such outbreaks involves purification supplies to ensure safe water and prepositioned treatment supplies such as oral and IV rehydration supplies for cholera. Treatment for cholera and other diarrheal diseases involves large quantities of sterile solutions.

Human contact: In December 2013, a little boy in a village in Guinea, became ill and died just a few days later. This death, unnoticed at the time by few beyond family and neighbors, set off a horrific Ebola outbreak in West Africa, infecting over 26,900 people and killing more than 11,000. In the case of something as deadly as Ebola, new treatment centers and specialized training with protective equipment were necessary to meet this unexpected menace in countries with few or no resources to stop the epidemic. And now another Ebola outbreak has appeared in the Democratic Republic of Congo that threatens to expand beyond the borders of the country. More than 1,000 people have already died in this outbreak which has been exacerbated by violence in the region affecting health workers.

Mosquitoes: Where there is standing water and significant rain, mosquitoes can breed and thrive. And in various regions of the world, they can carry painful and sometimes deadly diseases such as chikungunya, dengue and malaria, transmitted through a bite into the human bloodstream.The list of mosquito borne diseases continues to grow as newer threats like Zika appear with dangerous longer term effects. Since these diseases are not easily treated or cured, preparing and responding involves various methods of mosquito control and protection from mosquito bites. And we must now consider the impact of climate change on the spread of mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. “Researchers believe as many as a billion people could be newly exposed to these illnesses within the century if climate change goes unchecked” (NPR story on study in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases)

Outbreak Threats

In each infectious disease outbreak, thoughtful preparation along with rapid mobilization of health workers, medicine and specialized supplies can limit the suffering and slow or stop the spread of the disease.

Threat:

Sudden outbreak of infectious disease such as Ebola overwhelms local health system.

Response:

Coordination with local and international health authorities, health care providers and other NGO partners to provide medicine and supplies and even temporary facilities and staff to handle the surge of those infected.

Threat:

Infection of health workers further weakens the health system.

Response:

Provide protective gear and supplies to limit the exposure of health workers, along with support for more health workers from our Medical Outreach program and other health partners or our Emergency Response Roster to augment the local health system.

Threat:

Disease outbreak diminishes health centers capacity to treat normal health issues along with loss of trust in the health system.

Response:

Building capacity with emergency medical teams helping to manage the surge along with outreach through community health workers and volunteers to reassure community that regular and safe care is available.

Threat:

In the case of diarrheal disease, limited availability of IV solutions and supplies – the primary treatment for the diseases.

Response:

Pre-positioning of rehydration solutions and supplies such as “cholera kits” or local sourcing so that the logistics of shipping large quantities of fluid via sea container does not delay the response to a disease that can kill within hours if untreated.

Threat:

Disease continues to spread and infect more people.

Response:

Working with the Ministry of Health, engage community members and local authorities in tracking the people infected and their contacts. Then focus on community outreach and education to teach WASH and provide other appropriate disease prevention information and supplies. Support an immunization effort if a vaccine is available.

Our ability to halt a disease outbreak depends on our dedicated local partners and good neighbors like you who step up and provide the resources to do the work.

The Ready Cycle Plans for the Worst

Emergency programs at Americares represent a continuous cycle of Ready, Respond, Recover and then get Ready again, only better. Each disaster presents a new set of challenges to lay the foundation for a better response the next time around. It is a dynamic process, ever changing as more extreme weather, new disease outbreaks and unforeseen manmade crises arise – always demanding that we increase our knowledge and capabilities especially as new or more deadly disease threats appear. In that work, we are ever mindful and incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of our donors and the presence of local partners who have the ground sense and skill necessary to meet the challenges and often only lack resources to prepare for them.

On the Frontlines of an Outbreak

An infectious disease outbreak can arise suddenly without warning. The challenge for health workers is to stop the spread while safely treating those already infected.

Past Emergency

Zika Outbreak

With the spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases, Americares has continued its efforts to educate families on prevention while providing supplies to help protect them from mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus. The World Health Organization first declared an international public health emergency on February 1, 2016 because of a suspected link between the virus, which has no cure, and microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads and abnormal brain development.

Past Emergency

West Africa Ebola Outbreak

In December 2013, a little boy in a village in Guinea, became ill and died just a few days later. This death set off a horrific Ebola outbreak, infecting over 26,900 people and killing more than 11,000. The most heavily affected countries include the three neighboring West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – poor countries with limited resources, weakened health systems and porous borders. Americares responded with a major commitment to combat the disease and help rebuild the health system.

Press Release

Cholera Outbreak

Americares has made a commitment to provide treatment for tens of thousands of children and adults suffering from malnutrition and the world’s worst cholera outbreak. Americares shipments contain intravenous fluids and oral rehydration solutions to treat dehydration and diarrheal diseases, including deadly cholera, in patients weakened by malnutrition in Yemen and Somalia

/

88 Hamilton Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902

Inquiries: (203) 658-9500

Donations: (800) 905-1082

info@americares.org

Contact

About

Media

Americares is approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (C) (3) tax-exempt organization, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. Americares Federal Identification Number (EIN) is 061008595. Member of Reuters Alertnet.